34th Sunday of Ordinary TimeDid it TO ME …..!!!Eze34:10-12, 15-17
1Cor15:20-26, 28
Mt 25:31-46Dear Sisters and brothers in Christ Jesus, we have reached the last Sunday and last week of the liturgical year. The Church reminds us through this Feast that Christ is the beginning, the end and the center of all the seasons, time and years as the King forever. We surrender our community and family in His guidance, that Christ the King be center of our life. That we may continue to experience His tender shepherding care and offer the same to others around.
Why do we celebrate this feast of Christ the King? Does this feast have any meaning for us today? We have fewer monarchs; few countries have their leaders as kings. What message does the Kingship of Jesus offer us in today’s world?
It is true that there are fewer monarchs, but the desire for power, and fighting for power, will ever exist in human society. There is no Alexander, no Hitler, no Mussolini, no Louis XIV and no Gadhafi around, yet their attitude exists in different forms. We, the US, are the most powerful nation on the Earth, we are the most successful country in the world, we possess the destructive nuclear power, we hold the key of advanced science and technology, and our religion should be the only state religion-Isis. Poor, hungry, lonely, isolated, down trodden, homeless, and migrants and discriminated become voiceless in this power struggle. So, this feast of Christ the King was instituted on December 11, 1925 by Pope Pius XI to challenge the existing Nazism and Secularism. It is reminder that Christ the King is the ruler, the leader and the shepherd, of all time and seasons.
How is He different from the other kings? How the voiceless and marginalized are included in His kingdom? Most of the rulers did it for their glory; Jesus acted for the glory of the least brothers and sisters. Other rulers delegated their controlling power; Jesus Himself tenderly shepherded His flock. He assured us that He will be with us shepherding, till the end of the world. If we are part of His flock, we should pass on this tender care, and then we will hear one day, ‘you did it to me.’
Fr. Thomas Rosica, scripture scholar, director of Salt, and light television and media, shares one of his encounters with Blessed Mother Teresa. He used to teach the sisters of Charity in the outskirts of Rome. When Mother was on her visit he said, “Once Mother came over to speak with me. At the end of the conversation, I asked her: “How do you do it day in and day out? How do you deal with the crowds of people trying to see you when you are out in public.” She raised her hand before my face and shook her five fingers at me. “Five words,” she said; “five words: You did it to me.”
You did it to me: both the James translation and the new revised translation, say that it is to me, not for me. Jesus is fully identifying himself with the hungry, the naked, those who are in prison, the thirsty and the sick. Jesus says I am in them. He made their sorrows and sufferings His own (Isaiah 53:4: 63:9). He suffered with the sufferers. He asks Paul, “Why do you persecute me?” After his conversion, Paul proclaimed, “I live not for me, not for my glory but to Him.” He says, ‘it is not I rather He lives in me’. We are called to be a shepherd to the least and the last, to the small and the voiceless. When we give our time, support, shelter and food for them, we do to Jesus. They carry the face of Jesus. You did it to me means you be there with me, identity with me, acknowledge me with tender heart. Then Jesus will identify and acknowledge us in His kingdom.
In the first reading Prophet Ezekiel motivates the people of Israel to look for the tender caring shepherd who will be with and for them. Manasseh erected altars for Baals, promoted worshiping of false gods. There were evil practices of magic, and many idols. Judah was captured and lived in Babylonian exile. They lost the Jerusalem temple, the Ark of the Covenant, sacred vessels, the Mosaic tablets of the law, and the Staff of Aaron. They were helpless and voiceless. They thought this was the end of the world…their end time; they believed and were scared that they were punished. Here God sends the prophet Ezekiel, promising that He will be a shepherd, to be with and for them, with tender care. They and their life will be lifted. Jesus is the Shepherd, the fulfillment of the promise.
Do we experience the tender shepherding care of Jesus in our life?
Do we offer the same to our family and in our responsibilities?
Who are the least and the last?
Will Jesus respond me, you did it to me?
Can you feed me, fill me, visit me, comfort me and be with me, in my helplessness and emptiness?
Pope Francis addressed the following words in his response to Food and agricultural organization of UNO: “And while we speak of new rights, the hungry remain, at the street corner. They ask to be recognized as citizens, to receive a healthy diet. They ask for dignity, not for charity”. "These people are just asking for dignity. They beg us for dignity, not for alms. And this is your job. To help them embrace their dignity.”
Leo Tolstoy (1828-1910 C.E.), the great Russian author, was also a great Christian, who took seriously the demands of the Great Sermon (Matthew 5-7) and attempted to live his life accordingly. One day a beggar stopped him while he was out walking and asked him for alms. Tolstoy searched his pockets for a coin but finding none he said with regret. “Please, don’t be angry with me, my brother, but I have nothing with me. If I did I would gladly give it to you.” At that, the beggar’s face brightened with joy. “You have given me more than I asked for”, he said, “You have called me brother!” Tolstoy had not only grasped the intent of the Great Sermon, but he had also penetrated the truth of today’s Gospel. He regarded the poor man, asking for alms, as a brother because he had understood and made his own the great commandment (Matthew 22:37). But he had also learned to see the face of Christ in the poor. He must have heard, “you did it to me” –Amen.
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